Tonight was the last night of two for a girls only group. We were on the canal at Linlithgow. Lots of boys not happy they couldn’t come but understood why we were trying to get more girls active when they realised lots of girls don’t do ‘active stuff’ out of Core PE. They had a real fight against the wind – challenge – on the way out on the journey, but rafting up helps counteract the wind but requires even better co-operation, teamwork and talking to each other ! Which some groups took ten minutes to get some synergy ! They were then successful learners progressing, so going to  -wanting to give up and go home –  to  – laughing and having fun controlling a big raft – in half an hour gave a good session from Miss L and my point of view. We have good kit which fits children properly and makes a difference in colder weather. Great session. Brookbank Canoe shop is running a free taster session day so you can try lots of different kayaks and canoes out. Details here

Lots of very bright and scenic yellow rapeseed oil growing and giving off a lot of pollen just now, this can cause pollen allergies being triggered but windy weather helps alleviate it. Rapeseed oil is a healthy oil and has lots of good Omega oils.  Although sunny and bright it was quite chilly.  The girls enjoyed the rafting so much they wanted a MEGA raft at the end of all the canoes together. They were keen to go under a small bridge but were warned that the bridge narrowing on the canal creates a Venturi effect accelerating the wind.

I was trying some UKCC Level 2 Coaching to help get ready for my Level 2 Assessment, yes even teachers get assessed !

I managed to not talk for at last 5 minutes, hard. And just observed. Earlier in the day Mrs H was practising J Strokes which helped me too, as I did – Command, Self Checks, Guided Discovery, Flags and Markers – in twenty minutes and she managed to do the stroke autonomously. Giving too much feedback to quickly is a common error of coaching and possibly teaching.